Being able to appear at the top of Google search results for your name can be a great marketing tool.

With the first link in search engines being your own website, whenever people search for your name can lead to a lot more interest in your work and your business, which in turn can lead to more revenue.

Understanding how to rank higher in search engines is a highly valuable skill in today’s digital market. While you can pay for digital marketing services to aid in improving your website, there are some things you can do yourself to appear in Google search results.

Once you are present in search results, you can work on optimizing your sites to improve your ranking.

The higher you rank in search results, the more traffic your website will get, which can lead to more customers to your business or more attention to your content.

Various benefits come with appearing on Google, and it is something to work on for success.

In this guide, we are sharing the best ways you can get your name on Google and appear at the top of search results.

Are You Found On The Google Search List?

Have you ever searched for your name or your business on Google?

This is a good practice for all kinds of business owners, content creators, or entrepreneurs, as you need to be aware of what is out there regarding your name and brand. Even if you do not run a business, checking what shows up when you search your name is a good thing to do to ensure you have a good reputation.

It is important for you to be present on the Google search list, but you also want to make sure that what is being presented shows you in a good light.

There are various reasons why people are searching your name, even if you do not have a business, and you want to make sure that what shows up first in results is suitable.

There may be old content regarding your name and brand or other companies with the same name that turn up on Google when you search your name, all of which needs to be hidden with current information,

Anything that is not related to your current work can harm your online reputation, so you need to check the current results for your name before any more work can be done to improve your online reputation. This is something that applies to everyone, whether you have a brand or not.

It is important to check what appears when you search your name because the Google search results for your name are essentially the story you are telling your target audience or anyone interested in you.

You want to make sure the results represent you well, so performing searches and working to rank well on Google is required.

Before you do anything, do a standard search on the Google search app or browser site for your name and see what appears.

This is your starting point and gives you an idea of what needs to be done to ensure your results are what you want. How you can improve results and rank higher is addressed in this guide.

How To Get Your Name On Google

If you did not find any results for your name and want to get noticed, you need to make yourself visible to search engines.

There are various ways that you can get your name to appear in Google search results, many of which you can do today without working with an online reputation management team.

These include:

Create A People Card

One of the easiest ways to get your name in the Google search is by making a Google People Card.

This card will appear in Google’s search results whenever someone searches your name and offers all the information people may need.

If you have a personal Google account, you can make a People Card on the search app or browser website. When you make a Google search for your own name, there is a prompt at the top of the search results that allows you to create your own card.

There are two sections to your People Card:

  • Summary
  • Profession

Once you fill out the information, you can tap Preview to check that all information on your card is correct. Once you are happy with your information, tap submit to confirm.

It may take a few hours for your card to appear in search results.

It is important to note that simply creating a card does not guarantee that your name will appear on Google, but the more information you provide, the more likely this is.

Claim Your Domain Names

Google search results work by offering websites based on keywords, so if you want your name to appear on Google, you need to make your own website.

Creating a personal website can be useful for a range of people, so this is a worthwhile venture to do regardless, but you can also ensure that your name gets noticed in Google search results this way. Your personal website should have your name or relevant keywords in the domain to ensure it appears whenever people are looking for you on the Internet.

Keyword stuffing is a significant feature of search engine optimization, which is based on getting noticed in search results, so it makes sense to do it with all elements of your website.

While keywords need to be used in online content, you can get the ball rolling by using your main keyword, such as your name, in the website link, too.

Obtaining a domain has never been easier than it is today with resources such as WordPress and other website creators, even if you only use the free version.

Do I Need A Website?

Having your own domain can be a great tool for getting noticed online, as can having your own web page.

Creating a website with your own domain is a way to get yourself online, and it can offer a range of personal benefits for your career goals. Most people have a website these days, even if they do not consistently update them.

A website can become a hub for all information about you and your business, where you can share publicly relevant content, information, and updates. You can run a blog where you can publish relevant articles to your work or your interests and develop links across your industry.

For extra verification, it is recommended that you purchase a couple of domains for your name and relevant terms to ensure there is less competition.

Use Specific Keywords

To ensure you rank well on search engine results pages, you need to be as specific as possible with your keywords.

If you are using your name in your web domain, you want to make sure it relates directly back to you as opposed to someone with the same name. This is especially the case if you have a similar name to someone famous, as people are never going to find your social profiles or site without additional effort.

Key terms such as your profession or business type can be a way to filter the search results and ensure you are getting attention online.

For example, using ‘Aamir Khan food blogger’ or ‘Aamir Khan tutor’ in your domain, social profiles, and content will ensure that people will find you as opposed to websites dedicated to the celebrity.

Entering a distinguishable term next to your name on the domain, whether this is your profession, an interest, or even the co-founder of your brand, in social media profiles and in on-page SEO is a way to improve the Google results for your name.

This is because Google’s spiders crawl all websites for related terms, and you want to make sure that there are links between everything you have done online.

Create Social Media Accounts

Another way to ensure you appear in Google search results is to create social media accounts using the same name as your domain and brand.

Being able to use social media is an extremely important skill in today’s digital age, and making your own profiles is the first step.

There are various kinds of social media profiles that you can create, including:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

All of these social media accounts should be linked to your personal blog or website to ensure there is a connection.

When you create a domain, you want to make sure that your Facebook and Twitter account has the same name as your website, maintaining the same terms as much as you can.

How To Use Social Media For Branding

Having a Facebook or Twitter account will only get you so far in terms of personal branding, as you need to use this, too.

You want to make sure that your social media accounts are up to date with the right information and present the best version of yourself.

It is important to remember that these accounts are often the first impression people will get of you.

Say you have an upcoming job interview or important meeting; people are most likely going to search your name and find your profile. You want to make sure that your social media profiles represent you well and do not hinder your success.

Take the time to ensure that every Facebook group you are a part of or every Twitter profile you follow reflects well on your name. Likewise, make sure all information on your LinkedIn profile is up to date and relevant to the brand you want to present today.

Everything present on your social media links back to your name, so you want to avoid any issues.

You can link all of your accounts, like YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook, on your own site to make it easier for Google to find you.

Adjust Your Bio

Even though you need to use the same terms for SEO across all websites you own, this does not mean you should simply copy and paste.

While key terms are important for SEO and should, therefore, be included in all the content you create online, you want to make adjustments so every site is slightly different. This prevents issues when Google crawls your content and makes it easier for them to confirm you are legit, as opposed to a bot.

Making changes from one page to the next also gives you more opportunities to rank on Google.

When you create social media accounts, for example, make sure your bio is slightly different on Twitter compared to LinkedIn while still containing the same information.

All your sites need to be accurate, of course, but unique enough to count.

Create Outbound Links

To make sure you are getting the most out of sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, make sure there are links on your blog to connect them all to you.

You can do this by creating outbound links on all your sites, even social media, where you can prompt people to ‘Connect’ with you. Here, you will link everything, from your blog to your social media profiles, on one page so people can find everything easily.

Not only will these links make it easy for people to find you, but also for you to show up on the Google results page.

You do not have to link your social media on every page of your website, which is a mistake some people make. Instead, one page dedicated to your profile will be enough in most cases as long as you are using other techniques like key terms.

Create Content

Now you have your platforms, it is time to make use of them, and creating content is a great way to appear on Google.

With regular content, you can share on social media and develop a community, as well as give you opportunities to use SEO techniques.

There are various forms of content you can create online these days, from social media posts to blog articles and even YouTube videos, all of which can be shared with links to your main domain.

Get Better Results With SEO

Appearing on Google is not always enough to get you the attention you desire online.

Anyone who uses Google will understand that every search yields thousands of results, and getting noticed in this can be difficult unless you work on SEO.

Search engine optimization is a way of improving your site to ensure it performs well on Google and is the next step once you are in the results.

There are various tools that you can use to optimize your site to perform better in search results, whether you want to work on your own or hire professionals to help.

On Page SEO

In all of the articles published on your site, you need to continue using key terms to ensure you get noticed by Google.

On page, SEO not only ensures you will get seen in Google search but also helps you rank higher in this. The same terms and SEO techniques should be used in all content you publish online to ensure it has a link back to you and appears near your name on Google.

This is something you can do with new content published, as well as taking the time to edit anything you already have published to create this link.

Summary

Getting your name on Google can be very useful in the modern market and help you get attention online.

Whether you run a business, create content, or simply want to develop a good reputation, getting your name on Google can be helpful.

Each search done on Google leads to thousands of results, and there is plenty of room for you. This amount of competition can also make it difficult for you to get noticed, which is why simply having a website or social media is not enough.

There are some initial steps you can take to get your name on Google before working on SEO, which can help you rank higher for more attention.